Difficult Doctrinal Teachings

by W. John Walsh

The doctrines of the gospel, as taught in the scriptures and by Church leaders, are
usually taught in such plainness and clarity that they are very easy to understand.
However, as a person studies the gospel, he or she will occasionally come across a
statement that seems to be in conflict with revealed truth. To help the reader
understand what I mean, I will relate an incident that happened to me several years ago.
As I was reading the Doctrine and Covenants
one night, I came across the following verse:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man marry a wife according to my word, and
they are sealed by the Holy Spirit of
promise, according to mine appointment, and he or she shall commit any sin or
transgression of the new and everlasting covenant whatever, and all manner of blasphemies,
and if they commit no murder wherein they shed innocent blood, yet they shall come forth
in the first resurrection, and enter into their exaltation; but they shall be destroyed in
the flesh, and shall be delivered unto the buffetings of Satan unto the day of redemption,
saith the Lord God." (D&C 132:26)

To me, it seemed as though this verse taught that if you were married in the temple, then you were
guaranteed exaltation, regardless of how you
lived afterwards. You could do anything except "murder wherein [you] shed
innocent blood" and still be exalted. This interpretation left me troubled
because I knew it was wrong. Not only was it at variance with numerous statements
from Church leaders on the subject of salvation, but the Holy Spirit told me that this
doctrine was simply not true.

To help resolve this issue, I went to see one of my religion professors, Dr.
Robert L. Millet. When I explained my problem to Dr. Millet, he smiled and told me a
story. Some years ago, he had been traveling with President Harold B. Lee who was President of the Church at that
time. Dr. Millet had been reading the same verse in the Doctrine and Covenants and
had been troubled in the same way. He decided to ask President Lee about it.
President Lee took Brother Millet's scriptures and marked a note in them:
"if they repent." Afterwards, President Lee explained to Dr. Millet
that a person cannot take one gospel teaching in isolation from all others. All
teachings of the gospel must be taken as a congruent whole. There were hundreds of
verses of scripture that plainly taught that exaltation was predicated upon true repentance. Were all of these scriptures to be ignored
because of this one verse? Of course not. President Joseph Fielding Smith
noted:

"It is wrong to take one passage of scripture and isolate it from all other
teachings dealing with the same subject. We should bring together all that has been said
by authority on the question. If we were to make a photograph, it would be necessary for
all of your rays of light to be focused properly on the subject. If this were not done
then a blurred picture would be the result. This is the case when we try to obtain a
mental picture, when we have only a portion of the facts dealing with the subject we are
considering." (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.2, p.95)

Most of the difficult teachings that we come across can be resolved in this way.
For example, Elder Orson F. Whitney taught:

"The Prophet Joseph Smith declared-and he never taught a more comforting
doctrine-that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to
them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but
likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is
upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching
out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come,
they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their
sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent
Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father's heart and home, the painful experience will
not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them
with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God" (in Conference
Report, April 1929, 110).

At first, one might assume that children born in the covenant are guaranteed
exaltation because of the righteousness of their parents. But does this make sense?
Certainly, our salvation is dependent upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
The Book of Mormon teaches:

"Wherefore, thy soul shall be blessed, and thou shalt dwell safely with thy
brother, Nephi; and thy days shall be spent in the service of thy God. Wherefore, I know
that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer; for thou hast beheld
that in the fulness of time he cometh to bring salvation unto men." (2 Nephi 2:3)

However, we also know that the Lord cannot save us unless we follow him and keep his
commandments. Therefore, if the Lord can't save people who will not repent, how
could a temple sealing save someone who refuses
keep the Lord's commandments? The answer is simple: It can't. This
statement must be taken into context with the other teachings of the gospel. The Articles of Faith state:

"We believe that through the atonement of
Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the
Gospel."

Yes, wayward children can be saved if they are "obedien[t] to the laws and
ordinances of the Gospel", including faith and true repentance.

Finally, it should be mentioned that neither Church leaders nor the scriptures are
infallible and free from all error. A Church leader might have known the correct
doctrine, but simply misstated himself. For example, in one of my previous callings,
I was the gospel doctrine instructor in my ward. During the course of the lesson, I
was emphasizing how important it is for fathers to actively participate in parenting.
Then, I made the statement that "fathers should regularly baby-sit their
children." Well, immediately one of the sisters pointed out that "fathers
can't baby-sit their own children. You only baby-sit other
people's children." Well, as soon as the sister brought up the issue, I knew I
had misspoken and with some embarrassment retracted my statement. What I was
thinking in my mind was true, but what actually came out of my mouth was flawed.
This happens to everyone, including Church leaders. In addition, a Church
leader might not understand a particular doctrine correctly. It is important to
remember that only Jesus Christ is perfect and free from all error and sin. (See Are Prophets Infallible?)